She whipped around, surprised to find me right behind her.
“Wonderful,” Rosalie said. “Here’s your list.”
I took it and brought it back to her with a triumphant grin I didn’t bother to hide. “Let’s head back to the processing center. Catch that AC.”
Belle boiled me in her green pools. “What’s your aim, Nathan? I’m telling you right now, if you bring up sex or things that didn’t happen, they’ll put ‘finding your pieces’ on the scavenger list.”
“Your threats are very creative,” I said. “Did I ever tell you that? You can flip just about anything into a weapon.”
“Thank you.” She plucked the list from my fingers. “What do we have to do?”
I made a massive mistake that day but Belle did too. I wasn’t talking about our balcony rendezvous. I meant taking that paper and letting me partner with her when walking off and hooking up with someone else was still her choice. On some level—way down deep—she wanted to spend time with me.
Knowing that would fuck me up worse than ever.
“Record your partner sharing their goals for the future,” she read. “Record them singing their favorite song. Record them acting out their favorite activity.”
“Easy. We’ll be done and back on the bus sipping iced tea in half an hour.”
Belle looked around and met with trees, trees, trees. “I saw a bench under the coconut trees. The ones on the other side of the center. Let’s go there before someone gets there first.”
I swept out an arm. “Lead the way.” I expected an eye roll and I got it.
We left the group behind, falling quiet as we made for our spot. I peeked at her out of the corner of my eye. Once or twice I caught her doing the same.
“Belle, can I ask you something? It’s important.”
She blew out a breath. “Nathan, please, I can’t talk about last night. I know that we probably should, but I’m not ready to go there.”
“I know, I know,” I said. “I swear it’s not about that, but it is important, and I need to hear it from you. Please.”
Belle paused, concern filling her eyes. “Okay. What is it?”
“Are you... wearing underwear?”
“Wha—? Nathan!” She swung and missed. I had already taken off running. “You’re such a jerk!”
She chased me, laughing to set the world on fire and make the heavens cry. Belle’s laugh reduced the strongest man to putty at her feet.
“Answer the question!”
She hopped on one foot, ripped off her shoe, and lobbed it at my back. I twisted fast and caught it.
“A hostage. Now you have to meet my demands!”
Belle ran at me and jumped. Instinctively I opened my arms and we went down, landing with a thud that whooshed the air out of me. Giggling, Belle took advantage of my daze to retrieve her shoe. “I won’t answer because you already know.”
Forget Carter, I should be dropping down and proposing to this woman.
“Let’s go, dummy. That iced tea and air-conditioning is calling our names.” She climbed off and stretched out a hand to help me up.
Together we rounded the building and made for the bench. No one had claimed it for their own. We were free to set up under the shade.
“We’ll trade off,” Belle said. “Keep it fair.”
“Cool with me. Should we flip for who goes first?”
She nodded. “Got a coin?”
“Got a phone.” I pulled out my cell and typed flip a coin in the search bar. This truly was a great time to be alive. “Heads or tails?”
“Tails.”
I hit flip. “Tails. What’s first?”
“Record me listing my goals for the future.”
“A subtle way to find out if they align with mine,” I said.
She gave me a wry look as she climbed on the bench. “This will weed a few options out at the gate.”
“Ready when you are.”
“Okay, let’s see.” Belle chewed her lip, head tipping back in thought. “My goal is to have my own line, of course. I want to travel the world designing and doing my part to add more color and beauty.”
“Who do you want to design for?” I asked.
“What do you mean?”
“When you picture the person wearing your clothes, are they young women? Working professionals? Runway models?”
“Huh. No one has ever asked me that before.” Belle smiled and it was a straight shot to my groin.
What do you want from me? I could dress it up in sappy feelings, but the fact was everything she did got me going. Those nights she spent in my